Last year for St. Patrick's Day, I tried to make you guys a great Irish pot pie. Irish in that it had Guinness in it. It was so good except for one thing. It was crazy bitter. Like barely choke it down bitter. I took some great pictures (or what I thought were great at the time since I was just starting this take pictures of your food thing), and I was all set to post it. But then I thought and I thought, and I tried it again, and I couldn't. It was too bitter, and I didn't really understand how it came to be so dang bitter.

The week after St. Paddy's day last year, I was watching an episode of Chopped on the Food Network, and one of the basket ingredients was a porter beer, like Guinness. I believe it was Alex Guarnaschelli who said that you couldn't cook that beer for too long or it would turn out really bitter. I was so happy to hear that, and I tucked away that nugget of information for almost a year and finally made this stew.

The beauty of this stew is its simplicity. The only seasoning other than salt and pepper? Bay leaves. I found that the veggies, beef, and Guinness gave it plenty of flavor. I cooked this stew for about five hours and added the beer after three hours. I think you could trim that down to about three hours total and add the beer for just the last hour. You really only need to cook the stew long enough for the veggies to soften and the meat to tenderize. And the valuable lesson is that you definitely don't want to cook that beer for too long. Trust me on that one!

Irish Beef Stew Recipe
Serves 4-6
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2 tablespoons olive oil, divided
1 pound stew meat
1/2 cup all purpose flour
Salt and pepper
1 small yellow onion, diced
2 small carrots, diced
8-10 baby yellow potatoes, cut into small chunks
4 ounces mushrooms, quartered
3 garlic cloves, minced
1 can diced tomatoes, drained
3 cups beef broth
3 bay leaves
1 can Guinness draught

Combine the flour, salt, and pepper in a large zipped bag. Add in the stew meat and shake until the flour is coating the meat. Set aside. In a large saucepan, heat one tablespoon of olive oil over medium high heat until hot. Add in the onion, carrots, potatoes, and mushrooms and cook until slightly softened, about 10 minutes. Add in the garlic and cook for 30 seconds or until fragrant. Remove the vegetables to a bowl or plate.

Add the other tablespoon of olive oil and heat until shimmering. Add half of the floured stew meat to the pan and let cook for 2 minutes without moving so it can brown. Then stir it around and let it brown on all sides. Repeat with the remaining meat, adding more oil if needed before browning. Pour about 1/2 cup of the broth into the pan and scrape up the browned bits on the bottom of the pan. Add in the rest of the broth, the can of tomatoes, cooked veggies, beef, and the bay leaves. Let simmer for 2-3 hours or until the veggies are soft and the meat is tender.

One hour before you are ready to eat, add in the can of Guinness draught and let simmer on low heat. Serve hot.

A She Makes and Bakes recipe

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I don't know if you ever read the What We're Eating page, but I had these sandwiches listed on there for about 3 weeks in a row. Not because we loved them that much (although we did) but because I never could get around to making them. So when I finally did, I was so happy. They were amazing! As I've mentioned many times before, my husband hates pasta, so I can never get away with chicken parmesan and spaghetti. So just like I fill my meatball craving with meatball sandwiches, I can now fill my chicken parm craving with these sandwiches. It's a win win (especially because I love bread!).

I pan fried these but you could just as easily bake them (and they'd be healthier, too). That's what I'll probably do next time, but I was in the mood to use some hot oil. I pounded a large chicken breast out pretty thin, and that was enough for 2 large sandwiches...and we both only ate half of our sandwich. Next time, I'll just make one sandwich that we can split with a side or salad. I also highly recommend you make these with homemade ciabatta. It really took it over the top! 

Chicken Parmesan Sandwiches Recipe
Makes two sandwiches
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1 large chicken breast
1/4 cup all purpose flour
Salt and pepper
1 egg, beaten
1 cup panko breadcrumbs
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
1/4 teaspoon onion powder
Vegetable oil

For the sandwiches:
Mozzarella cheese slices
1/2 cup marinara sauce
Sandwich bread or homemade ciabatta
1/4 cup butter, softened
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder

Pound the chicken breast out until it is a uniform thickness, about 1/4 inch thick. Cut the chicken in half so you have two pieces. Mix together the flour, salt, and pepper, and spread it out on a plate. Place the beaten egg in a large wide bowl. Mix together the panko, garlic powder, and onion powder. Place those in a large wide bowl or on a plate. Dredge each chicken breast through the flour so it's coated on both sides, then through the egg, and then through the seasoned panko. Make sure the panko covers the entire breast. Place on a plate.

If you want to fry the chicken: Pour enough oil in the skillet to cover about 1/2 inch. Heat it over medium heat until the oil is almost smoking. If you drop a breadcrumb in the oil to test it, it should sizzle. Once your oil is hot, use tongs to place the chicken breasts in the pan. If they don't fit side by side, do them one at a time. Let them cook for about 3-4 minutes until they're golden brown. Carefully flip the chicken over and cook for another 2-3 minutes until golden brown. The chicken should be 165 degrees on the inside (but check them temperature when it's not in the pan). Take the chicken breast out of the oil and place on a paper towel to drain any grease.
 
If you want to bake the chicken: Preheat your oven to 400 degrees. Place the breaded chicken on a sheet pan and bake for 20 minutes until a thermometer inserted into the chicken reads 165 degrees.

Meanwhile, spread the softened butter on the bread, sprinkle with garlic powder, and place it butter side down on a pan over medium heat until golden brown and toasted, about 1-2 minutes.

Place the cheese on top of the bottom piece of bread, place the chicken on top of it, pour 1/4 cup of hot marinara on top of the chicken, and top it with the second piece of bread. Serve immediately.

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One last Superbowl snack before Sunday...pizza bites! When I saw this come up on one of my favorite blogs years ago, I had to make it that same week. And we're still eating them. Pizza bites are incredible...for lunch, a snack, or dinner. I make mine a little bigger than the original recipe indicates and place 3-4 pieces of pepperoni in each roll with a big hunk of mozzarella. The original recipe calls for 20-24 balls, and I can only try to get 12 out of mine.

Pizza dough isn't hard to make, and it rises pretty quick. This is my favorite and I actually make it all by hand now. I find it's much easier than using my big mixer. But feel free to grab some from the store or your local pizza place. I highly recommend you make these as soon as possible!

Pizza Bites
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For the dough:
6 ounces (about 1 cup) semolina flour
16 ounces (about 3 1/4 cups) bread flour
1 1/2 tablespoons sugar
1 teaspoon yeast
1/4-1/2 teaspoon garlic powder (optional)
2 teaspoons salt
14 ounces (1 3/4 cups) warm water
3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

For the bites:
About 40 pieces of pepperoni
3 pieces of string cheese
Olive oil
Italian seasoning
Grated Parmesan cheese

Combine the yeast, sugar, garlic, and water in a bowl and allow yeast to dissolve. Add flours and stir with a large spoon. Let the dough rest for a few minutes to give the yeast time to work. Add the oil and salt and stir. Place the dough on a floured counter and knead by hand until it's soft and elastic. Place in a lightly oiled bowl and cover. Let it rise about an hour or until it’s doubled in size. I like to cover my rising bread with shower caps that my friends pick up at hotels. They're easy to slip on and they're reusable.

Split into two pieces and shape or place in freezer bags to freeze and use late (you only need one ball of dough for this recipe).

Preheat your oven to 400 degrees.

Divide one ball of dough into 12 pieces. Stretch the piece into a circle about the size of your palm. Place the pepperoni and cheese in the middle of the circle and stretch the dough around it and pinch to close. Place the balls seam side down in a greased 9-inch pie plate.

Brush olive oil on top of the balls and sprinkle the Italian seasonings and parmesan cheese on top. Bake for 20 minutes or until the tops are golden brown. Serve warm.

Source: Annie's Eats

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Apparently to be a good food blogger, I should be much more interested in the food/party part of the Superbowl than the food. But guess what, I'm not. Yes, I love making dips and snacks and delicious things to eat, but I love football and I love the NFL. A lot. So my favorite part about this upcoming Sunday will be watching the game. If you've been reading my site for any length of time (or know me at all), you know that I love the Broncos. In fact, I was lucky enough to go to the Superbowl in 1999 with my dad when the Broncos beat the Falcons! It was so much fun and is something that I'll remember doing my whole life. Football holds a special place in my life, and it's something that my dad and I have done together for decades.

So this isn't really the perfect Superbowl snack, but it is an awesome meal that would be great this Sunday, next Sunday, or any other day. Jalapeño popper chicken was something that intrigued me when I first saw it. I tucked it away and then I finally tried it and totally fell in love. My first worry was that it would be super spicy from the large amount of jalapeños, but it's not. When you mix it in with the cheeses and then the chicken and breadcrumbs, the spice gets mellowed out. So if you want a lot of heat, I would add a lot of minced jalapeños. Do yourself a favor and make this soon because it's terrific!

Jalapeño Popper Chicken Recipe
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1/2 cup panko crumbs
2 teaspoons canola oil
2 teaspoons taco seasoning
1 egg
2 ounces cream cheese
1/4 cup cheddar cheese, shredded
1-2 jalapeños, seeds and ribs discarded and then minced
2 chicken breasts

In a small pan, combine the panko and canola oil. Cook on medium heat while stirring until the crumbs are golden brown. Remove from heat and mix with the taco seasoning. 

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees and set an ovenproof rack over a rimmed baking sheet. Spray lightly with cooking spray.

In a shallow bowl, mix the egg.

In another bowl, combine the cream cheese, cheddar cheese, and jalapeños. Use a small, sharp knife to cut a slit in the chicken breast horizontally (this is where you will stuff the cheese filling). Stuff with the filling and use toothpicks to secure if needed. Alternately, pound the chicken breast out thin, spread the filling over half of it, and fold the chicken on top of the cheese filling. Secure with toothpicks.

Dredge the stuffed chicken through the egg and then dip in the panko mixture. Make sure the crumbs are covering each part of the surface, and if any cheese is showing, cover that area really well so it doesn't drip out as much.

Place the breaded chicken on top of the rack, and if there is any cheese filling covered with the crumbs, place that side up. Bake for about 25-30 minutes or until the chicken is cooked through.

Source: Elly Says Opa and Sunny Side Up

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I hope you guys are ready for some comfort food because this is comfort food at its finest. Let's face it. There's nothing glamorous about tuna casserole, even if you add potato chips or peas. But I truly believe that a good tuna casserole is an ace in the hole. I've been eating this my entire life, and on a chilly day it certainly hits the spot. It's quick, easy, and great for those nights when kids have sports practice, gymnastics, or something else that means that you need a quick and filling meal. I'm actually imagining that since I don't have kids, but still. We ate it pretty frequently when I was a kid, so I'm assuming that's a reason why.

This particular tuna casserole is saucy, and I love the tang from the Miracle Whip and the spice from the garlic powder and pepper. If you don't like so much sauce, use about 12 ounces of noodles instead of 8 ounces. Most of the time that I make this I don't bake it, so it's more like a tuna casserole soup, but that's the way I like it. If you want to add peas, you can add frozen ones in right before it bakes. I've also crushed some potato chips on top before I baked it because it's a wonderful topping.

So there you go. Tuna casserole. I'm just keeping it real here on She Makes and Bakes. I promise to post something a little more exciting next.

Tuna Casserole Recipe
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8 ounces shell noodles
1/2 cup Miracle Whip
1/2 cup milk
10 3/4 ounce can cream of mushroom
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon pepper
5 ounce can chunk light tuna in water

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.

Boil the noodles in salted water until cooked al dente. While the noodles are boiling, prepare the sauce. In a large bowl, combine the Miracle Whip, milk, cream of mushroom, garlic powder, pepper, and tuna. When the pasta is done, drain it, add it back to the pan, and pour the sauce on top. Stir until heated through. If you want a crispy top, bake it in a greased dish for about 15 minutes until bubbling. Let cool slightly before serving.

Are you ready for one of the most comforting meals ever? Well hello. I love pot pie, and I definitely love it with pie crust (mainly because I adore good pie crust). However, in January a few veggies soaked in cream stuffed inside a buttery flaky pie crust can be a bit much. Calorie wise, that is. This creamless pot pie studded with cream cheese pepper chive biscuits is incredible. You don't have to fuss with a pie crust (which can be annoyingly difficult), and the biscuit topping almost preportions the servings. And have I mentioned yet that the biscuits are the perfect contrast to the filling? A bit of spiciness from the pepper contrasts nicely with the cream cheese and chives. Not to mention they're so tender and wonderful. And yes, I'm aware that I'm trying to make pot pie sound healthy. Just go with it.

This really isn't hard to make, and if you wanted to save yourself some time, you could use a bag of frozen veggies instead of doing the prep and cooking the veggies yourself. I included an onion, carrots, green beans, and celery but you could do zucchini, peas, or any variety of your favorite vegetables (or the ones you know your family will eat). I have to leave the peas out or the hubs won't touch it. If you are going to add peas, use the frozen ones and add them into the sauce at the very end (still frozen).

The broth is a simple roux made with chicken broth instead of milk/cream. I'm not going to lie...it's a little skimpy on the sauce side but it does coat the veggies well and it's not dry. This sauce really allows those veggies to shine, but if you like it saucier (and I don't blame ya), you can double the sauce part. I used a very large chicken breast that I boiled, but if you're really going for easy, cut up a rotisserie chicken! All in all, it's one of our favorite cold-weather meals. And I love that I can have it in my arsenal when I need it. Not to mention that it's not 8 million calories like some of the other ones out there. 

Chicken Pot Pie with Pepper Chive Biscuits Recipe
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*Note: This filling is not very saucy as it's mainly veggies (because I was trying to be a tad bit healthier). If you like a lot of sauce, double the flour, butter, and chicken broth mixture.

For the biscuits:
1 1/4 cups all purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/8 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon sugar
1/2 teaspoon fresh cracked pepper
2 tablespoons fresh chives, chopped
2 tablespoons cold butter cut into cubes
2 ounces cream cheese, cold
1/4 cup + 2 tablespoons buttermilk, cold

For the filling:
1 tablespoon butter
1 1/2 cups carrots, finely diced
1 cup green beans, cut into 1/4 inch pieces
1 small yellow onion, diced
1 cup diced celery
2 garlic cloves, minced
1/4 cup butter*
1/4 cup flour*
2 cups chicken broth*
2 cups cooked, shredded chicken

To make the biscuits, stir together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, garlic powder, sugar, pepper, and chives in a medium size bowl. Add the cold butter and cream cheese and cut them into the dry ingredients using a pastry cutter or a fork until they resemble coarse crumbs. Add in the buttermilk and stir until the dough is in one ball. Place a little flour on your counter and pat the biscuits out until they're about 1/4 inch thick. Use a cookie cutter or a glass and cut 9-12 biscuits (depending on size). Place them on a plate, cover with plastic wrap, and place in the fridge.

Preheat your oven to 400 degrees and spray a 9x9 pan with cooking spray.

To make the filling, in a large skillet over medium heat melt the 1 tablespoon of butter. Add the carrots, green beans, yellow onion, and celery and cook for about 10 minutes, stirring every so often, until the veggies have softened slightly. Add the garlic and cook for about 30-60 seconds or until fragrant. Remove them to a bowl. In the same skillet, melt the 1/4 cup butter over medium heat and sprinkle the flour on top. Whisk together and cook for about 3 minutes until bubbling and slowly add in about 1/4 of the chicken broth while whisking. Keep whisking and slowly add in more of the broth. Once all the broth is incorporated, whisk and cook for a few minutes until any lumps are gone. Season with salt and pepper. Add the veggies and chicken to the broth and stir to incorporate everything.

Pour this mixture into your prepared pan. Place the biscuits on top of the chicken mixture and brush them with buttermilk, heavy cream, or melted butter. Place in the oven and bake for 20-23 minutes until the biscuits are golden brown and the pot pie mixture is bubbling. Let cool slightly before serving.

To reheat, preheat the oven to 300 degrees. Cover with foil and bake until heated through, about 15 minutes.

Adapted from Joy the Baker

When I told my husband what we were having for dinner, he squished up his face and said, "I don't think I'm going to like that." Being the nice wife that I am, I told him he needed to try it anyway. And guess what, he liked it. I think his exact words were, "It's good; I'm just not in a soup mood." I'm taking that as a win. And it also means that I'll be serving it around these parts again. Ain't married life grand?

So here's the deal with this soup. I took one of my favorite pasta dishes and adapted it. There's Italian sausage, chicken, bell peppers, onions, and pesto. Oh, and tortellini...one of the best things about this soup. I adore tortellini. This soup is not overly anything (for those of you who may not love pesto). It's a perfect marriage of flavors and a spectacular alternative to your classic chicken noodle soup. It really doesn't take long to prep, and you could make it in your Crock Pot after you did a little prep work, too. Otherwise it takes about 2 hours or so to get on the table. That's a win in my book.

Another win? Here's the best kitchen tip *ever* if you have a stand mixer. Use the paddle attachment to shred your chicken on low speed. It only takes about a minute and is 100 times easier than using two forks.

Pesto Tortellini Soup
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1 small yellow onion
1 small green bell pepper
1 small red or orange bell pepper
8 ounces Italian sausage
1 large chicken breast
2 cups chicken broth
4 cups water
2 tablespoons pesto
2 cups fresh refrigerated tortellini

In a large pot, cook the Italian sausage, onion, and peppers over medium heat until the veggies are softened and the sausage is browned. Add the whole chicken breast, broth, and water. Cook over medium-low heat for about 1 1/2 hours. Remove the chicken breast and shred it. Skim the grease off the top of the soup using a large spoon and return the shredded chicken to the pot. Stir in the pesto and keep on low heat. About 15 minutes before you're ready to eat, increase the heat to medium and wait for it to boil. Add the pasta and cook for 6-8 minutes until tender. Serve hot.

A She Makes and Bakes original

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We got a new computer this week, and it's great except for one thing. It has Windows 8 on it, and it is the most confusing operating system ever. Ever. I had to google how to restart it because I could not find it anywhere. How ridiculous is that?? That handy start button that's been on every Windows computer since the beginning of time (not really) is missing. I'm sure I'll figure it out eventually, but I've spent the past three days feeling like a complete idiot.

Here's where I could say that when I feel like an idiot I like to make stew. Well, that's not really true. When I feel like an idiot, I like to curl up in bed and watch tv. Which doesn't equal stew being made because my dogs can't cook and my husband works during the day. Sigh.

However, I've been eating this stew since I was little, and it's one of my favorites. Perhaps it's because you serve it over rigatoni and that's one of my favorite pastas. Or maybe it's because it's a simple stew with carrots, tomatoes, mushrooms, beef, and Italian seasonings that has amazing flavor and depth. It's pretty easy to make, and you could do the prep the night before and put it in the Crock Pot to cook while you're at work. It's also a great weekend meal...I've even made it on a night when I didn't have a lot of extra time but it sounded really good. I just put in extra liquid and boiled it on medium high heat with the lid off until everything was tender. So it can be made in a rush if you're desperate. Or if you feel like an idiot and want to redeem yourself.

Italian Stew Recipe
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Notes: I prefer tenderized stew meat because it speeds up the cooking process quite a bit. If you can't find tenderized meat, ask the butcher/meat counter to tenderize it for you. Or you can beat it with the pointy edge of a mallet (but this doesn't work as well). If you don't have or don't like red wine, just use more beef broth.

1 tablespoon butter
1 small yellow onion, diced
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 pound tenderized stew meat, cut into smaller bite-size pieces
1 tablespoon olive oil
1/4 cup flour
salt and pepper
1/4 teaspoon paprika
2 1/2 cups beef broth
1/4 cup red wine
8 ounces mushrooms, stems removed and quartered
1 1/4 cups carrots, cut into bite-size chunks
1 14.5-ounce can diced tomatoes
2 bay leaves
1 1/2 teaspoon dried parsley
1 teaspoon dried basil
salt and pepper to taste

1 pound rigatoni cooked al dente
Parmesan cheese

In a large pot, melt the butter over medium heat. Add the diced onion and cook until soft and translucent, about 5 minutes. Add the minced garlic and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Remove to a bowl.

Combine the flour, salt, pepper, and paprika in a zip-top bag. Add in the chunks of stew meat and shake until the flour mixture is covering the meat.

Over medium high heat in the same pot, add the one tablespoon of olive oil. When the oil is almost smoking, dump in the bag of meat and flour. Let brown on all sides. When the meat is browned, pour in the red wine and scrape up the brown bits on the bottom of the pan. (At this point, you could move this to a Crock Pot and add everything else in the Crock Pot and cook on low for 6-8 hours.) Add the beef broth into the pot and reduce the heat to medium. Stir in the mushrooms, carrots, tomatoes, bay leaves, parsley, and basil. Bring to a simmer and reduce the heat to medium-low. Place the lid on, but leave it open a crack, and let it simmer for about 2 hours, stirring every so often. The stew is done when the carrots and beef are tender. Discard the bay leaves, season with salt and pepper to taste, and serve over rigatoni. Garnish with Parmesan cheese.

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And we're back! Happy New Year! I hope you all had a great holiday season. My in-laws were visiting us for the past week, and we had a lot of fun. It was nice to be away from the computer for a bit. I love you all, but it's nice to be around "real" people, too. Is anyone else completely confused about what day it is? All day Tuesday I was thinking it was Sunday. My internal calendar is pretty messed up right now. 

This meal was planned for Christmas Eve, but I had to change plans for the weather. My husband plows snow, and we had a white Christmas. I didn't want him to miss this meal, so I made it last Saturday instead. This is the second time I've made this (the last time was Christmas Eve 2011), and it's pretty awesome. There's Italian sausage, meatballs, and ribs that are cooked in a hearty sauce. The sauce itself is pretty simple with only a few ingredients but has amazing flavor after you cook all the meat in it.

This is one of those recipes where you brown the meat, add the sauce ingredients, and then finish cooking it in the oven for a few hours until the ribs are tender. In 2011 when I made this, I didn't have a pan that I could put in the oven so I did the whole thing on the stove. Low and slow with pretty frequent stirring. It worked really well. This year I did it as the recipe is written in the oven. I've never tried it, but I think you could do this in a Crock Pot, too. You'd have to brown the meat on the stove and make the sauce on the stove, too. Then you could transfer the meat to the Crock Pot and pour the sauce on top. If you wanted this when you got home from work, I think you could do all the prep work the night before and cook it on low during the day while you're at work. 

Even though I've talked about making this on Christmas Eve twice, it's a great meal for any time of the year. Even on a random weekday when you just want a comforting and hearty meal.

Italian Gravy Recipe
Serves 8-10
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For the sauce:
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 rack baby back ribs cut into 2-rib sections
Salt and pepper
1 pound Italian sausage links
2 onions, diced (about 2 cups)
1 1/4 teaspoons dried oregano
3 tablespoons tomato paste
4 garlic cloves, minced
2 (28 ounce) cans crushed tomatoes
2/3 cup beef broth
1/4 cup chopped fresh basil leaves

For the meatballs:
1/3 cup Italian bread crumbs
1 tablespoon dried parsley
Pinch red pepper flakes
3 garlic cloves, minced
1/4 teaspoon onion powder
1 egg
2 tablespoons ketchup
2/3 cup grated Parmesan cheese
Salt and pepper
1 pound ground beef

1 1/2 pounds linguine or spaghetti

Adjust your oven rack to the lower third of the oven and preheat to 325 degrees.

Heat oil in a large Dutch oven over medium-high heat until just smoking. Pat the ribs dry with a paper towel, season with salt and pepper, and place in the pan (do this in two batches). Brown all sides of the ribs, about 5-7 minutes total. Remove to a plate and repeat with the remaining ribs. Brown the sausages on all sides and remove to the plate with the ribs.

Reduce the heat to medium, add the onions and oregano and cook until the onions are starting to brown, about 5 minutes. Add the tomato paste and cook while stirring until it's very dark, about 3 minutes. Stir in the garlic and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Add in the cans of tomatoes and the beef broth and scrape up the browned bits on the bottom of the pan. Place the ribs and sausage in the sauce and bring to a simmer. Cover and place the pan in the oven for about 2.5 hours or until the ribs are tender.

To make the meatballs, get a large bowl. Mix together the bread crumbs, parsley, red pepper flakes, garlic, onion powder, egg, ketchup, Parmesan cheese, salt, and pepper. Once incorporated, mix in the ground beef. Form the mixture into 10 balls and place on a small parchment- or foil-lined baking sheet. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate until ready to use.

About 30 minutes before the sauce is done, place the meatballs in the oven next to the sauce (not in the sauce) and bake for 15 minutes. After 15 minutes, transfer them into the sauce and let them finish cooking for about 15 more minutes until cooked through.

Meanwhile, boil your pasta until al dente. When everything is finished cooking, mix one cup of the sauce with the drained pasta. Place the pasta on a platter with the meat and serve the extra sauce in a bowl. Garnish with Parmesan cheese.

Adapted from Cook's Illustrated

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One of the few pasta dishes I can get away with at home is lasagna. While my husband won't eat any other type of pasta, he will eat lasagna. However, when there are only two people eating it, it gets pretty tiresome. Enter these rollups. I make four of them, and they're the perfect size for dinner with minimal or no leftovers. I love that I don't have to eat lasagna for an entire week when I make these. These are really easy to make, and I've made them easier by using jarred sauce. You can certainly make your own or use your favorite brand. I was going for as easy as possible here. To make these, you lay a cooked noodle flat (you can't use the no boil noodles here), spread the cheese mixture on top of it, and roll it up. Then place it in the pan, cover it with some sauce and voila. Dinner!

By the way, I'm not normally a huge pepper fan. Like at all. I'm never one to get it on my salad or put it on everything. However, I do love some fresh cracked pepper in my cheese mixture. It really adds something, so I don't recommend skipping it. I also use cottage cheese in my lasagna, but I puree it in the food processor first so I can get rid of the clumps. I like the texture/creaminess better than using ricotta, but you can certainly use either one.

Lasagna Rollups
Makes four
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4 lasagna noodles, cooked al dente (don't use no boil noodles)
1 egg
1/2 cup cottage cheese or ricotta
1/4 cup grated parmesan, plus more for sprinkling
1/2 cup mozzarella, plus more for sprinkling
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon dried parsley
1/4 teaspoon fresh cracked pepper
2 cups spaghetti sauce

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.

If you're using cottage cheese, process it in a food processor or blender until the clumps are gone. In a medium size bowl, mix together the egg, cheeses, garlic powder, parsley, and pepper.

In a small baking dish, spread enough of the spaghetti sauce to cover the bottom of the dish.

Lay the noodles flat and dry them off with a paper towel if wet. Spread one quarter of the cheese mixture on top of one noodle, leaving one inch at the end with no cheese. Start with the other end and roll up the noodle. 

Lay the noodle flat in the baking dish. Repeat with the other noodles. Pour the rest of the spaghetti sauce on top of the noodles. Cover with aluminum foil and bake for 20 minutes.

Uncover the dish, sprinkle the additional cheese on top, and place back in the oven for 15-20 minutes until heated through (leave it uncovered).